The Journal's all-purpose sports report.

It’s not clear when Tiger Woods will return to the PGA Tour, but this much is certain: He won’t be back next week.

Woods has decided not to play in the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., a tournament spokesman said Thursday.

Woods, who lives in nearby Jupiter Island, was initially expected to play in the event. But his statement last week that he wouldn’t play “unless my game is tournament-ready” cast doubt on his availability, given how much work his game needs. Read More »

From the Super Bowl, the Sochi Games, the World Cup in Brazil and scandals in the NFL, a look back at some highlights from the 2014 year in sports.

Florida State defeats Auburn for college football’s national title, ending the Southeastern Conference’s seven-year win streak. A look back at the 2013 Iron Bowl play that set up Auburn’s surprise appearance in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

The Seattle Seahawks achieved a 13-3 record and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs by exploiting a loophole: NFL referees are reluctant to throw endless flags for pass interference and defensive holding, even if defenses deserve them. Read More »

Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the Hero World Challenge at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club on Thursday.

Getty Images

There are secret circles in which Tiger Woods’s return is treated like like inviolate prophecy—a conclusion that will come sooner or later, like the Mayan apocalypse or another Hangover movie. It’s partly because few golfers have matched Woods’s generational success or galvanizing Americanness; it’s also because it was only fun to watch Woods dominate the competition, and sports fans love to see their wintry lions go for one, final roar.

It does, however, seem like a prophecy delayed. On Thursday, Woods played at the Hero World Challenge, his first tournament since putting up a disastrous result at August’s PGA Championship—and a tournament sponsored by his own Tiger Woods Foundation. He came with a new swing, a new coach, a new surgically repaired back, and, if we can fill in the rest of the blanks, a new will to win. Except it didn’t happen that way. Surely, you say, it couldn’t have been that bad? Well: His opening tee nearly landed in a swimming pool. His anemic short game was quickly and eagerly GIF’d for our viewing pleasure. “By this time people were starting to talk,” Cameron Morfit writes for Golf.com. “Did he have vertigo? Had an optometrist botched his prescription? Watching Woods mangle all these chip shots was like watching Bobby Flay burn all the grilled cheese sandwiches.”

He finished 18th, not a bad result at a big tournament… except there were only 18 entrants in this one. It was the first time he’d finished last at his own event. At the end of the day, he offered nothing but forthright mea culpas for his poor play—he said he didn’t feel he shot that poorly, but obviously, who ever does? Unsurprisingly, he lacked the sense of humor to respond to a jibe from writer Dan Jenkins, with whom he’s feuded over a satirical column penned by Jenkins that, essentially, gave him a hard time.

Tiger’s week wasn’t all bad: He did manage to make a child a little happier, which is surely greater than all the golf victories in the world. And, if there’s a hint of silver in this dark and stormy night, it’s that Tiger was healthy enough to be bad on his own terms—there would be no pain-related pulling out, or further time taken off to massage his aching body. “Woods was at least encouraged by the fact that his surgically repaired back held up well Thursday, which is the biggest takeaway from the round,” offers the Washington Post’s Des Bieler. “Obviously, he can’t get better if he can’t play at all.” He also played the back-nine at par—a sign that he was playing into shape, rather than languishing all around.

So: If not the return of Shiva the Destroyer, it was something. One keeps in mind that most golfers would be allowed a recovery period free from speculating eyes. “Throughout the round, Woods’s body language showed a man who knows he can do better, but conscious that this — to borrow his parlance – is a process that has to unfold in public view,” writes Yahoo’s Ryan Ballengee. That it will publicly unfold is the only sure thing.

It’s impossible to sort out who knows what, because so much of what we know about the driving incident that ended with the death of Kevin Ward Jr. is speculative. We see the video of Ward running out on the dirt track to confront Tony Stewart after a crash; we see Stewart’s car hitting Ward, and his resulting death. What we don’t know is anything else.

Surely, it was good for Stewart to sit out of Sunday’s Watkins Glen International race—and bad for his team that they previously stated it would be “business as usual” following such a horrible accident. The glib response confirmed what plenty of people were already thinking: that Stewart was a hothead, a driver who, despite his considerable success in the field, was known for his altercations with competitors and a relentless style that could make or break those around him. “The things I love about Stewart, and the things so many of his fans love about him, are the very traits that at least set up the conditions for Saturday night’s disastrous wreck,” writes Slate’s John Swansburg. “Stewart is a prickly, hot-headed competitor. That turns a lot of people off—he’s one of the more divisive figures in Nascar. But for his fans, who make YouTube tributes that highlight his irascibility, that attitude is what makes him great.” In a sport filled with bland sponsorship, Stewart was an appealing provocateur. Now, that appeal is being used as evidence—and until the legal ramifications are sorted out, the character analysis will keep coming. Read More »

On the latest Sports Retort, Jason Gay joins us for a completely unscientific discussion on which sports have a harder time appealing to kids and young adults. His argument: Golf is in deeper trouble than most. He has answers for the cycling die-hards insisting that this year’s Tour de France was a classic. We wonder in which alternate universe it might be possible for us to do handstand pushups like a CrossFit Games athlete he profiled.

Plus, Geoff wonders which sports events would most benefit from being reduced to just once every four years. He also wants to know if he can count having gone to a Raiders game in a visiting team’s jersey when he had tickets for a luxury box, and much more. Read More »

Texas starting pitcher Colby Lewis had words with Toronto’s Colby Rasmus in a game on Saturday.

Associated Press

Baseball’s unwritten rules came up when Texas pitcher Colby Lewis claimed Toronto’s Colby Rasmus shouldn’t have bunted for a hit against a shift with the Blue Jays up by two runs with two outs. The Sports Retort goes through some of the other unwritten rules in sports to see if they make sense. We also have a tough time figuring out if football has the same unspoken guidelines.

Okay, so this Fixer is slightly goofing around. But it made for a good story on Sunday, when McIlroy won the British Open, becoming the third golfer aged 25 or younger to complete three legs of the career Grand Slam. With Tiger Woods in a seemingly permanent swoon—he finished roughly a million strokes over par, making it six years since his last major, and put his Ryder Cup spot in jeopardy—McIlroy positioned himself to stand unchecked at the top of golf’s ruling class, earning compliments from his peers about his dominance. “It would be easy to say we’re watching McIlroy wake up golf after a nearly two-year slumber,” writes Golf.com’s Cameron Morfit. “To say we’re watching the post-Tiger, post-Phil era roll out exactly as we thought it would two years ago, when McIlroy won his second major (the PGA) in as many years before picking off back-to-back FedEx Cup playoff events.” Read More »

SPORTS, THE JOURNAL WAY

The Daily Fix blog provides takes on the latest sports news. Features include The Count, a look at the most revealing sports stats, as well as regular live reports of major sports events. Go to the Journal’s sports page for up-to-date coverage on the latest in sports.

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About The Daily Fix

Jeremy Gordon is a freelance writer who lives in Chicago. He has written for TheAtlantic.com, MTV and Prefix and occasionally Tumbles and Tweets. The last time he cried was when Steve Bartman dropped the ball.

Jared Diamond writes about sports for The Wall Street Journal. He currently serves as a beat reporter covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball.

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In baseball, there is a long-standing tradition of pro teams inviting college teams to play them in preseason exhibitions. A look at this odd tradition, and the awkward, no-win situations it creates for the pros.